FAQ
Last updated
Scope
Life Science Alliance publishes results from high quality research across all areas in the life sciences and in biomedical research. Life Science Alliance is published in partnership between EMBO Press, Rockefeller University Press and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
Life Science Alliance is committed to the rapid, fair, transparent, and open-access publication of articles reporting new results, resources such as datasets, screens, and new methods as well as important confirmatory, negative or refuting data.
Which article types are published by Life Science Alliance?
What kind of data is Life Science Alliance interested in?
What kind of methods or resources is Life Science Alliance interested in?
What sort of confirmatory work does Life Science Alliance consider?
What sort of negative data is Life Science Alliance interested in?
Are you considering data that refute previously published findings?
Do you consider descriptive data?
How much insight is needed for publication in Life Science Alliance?
Transfers
To facilitate an efficient and rapid process, Life Science Alliance considers manuscripts transferred with or without referee reports from The EMBO Journal, EMBO reports, Molecular Systems Biology, EMBO Molecular Medicine, Journal of Cell Biology, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Journal of General Physiology, Genes & Development, and Genome Research (collectively "Alliance Journals"). If the editors of any of these journals decide to decline a given manuscript, the authors can easily resubmit their manuscript to Life Science Alliance.
Why should I transfer my study?
What gets transferred when I decide to go on to Life Science Alliance?
How do I transfer my work to Life Science Alliance?
How do negative peer review comments affect consideration at Life Science Alliance?
Should I revise the work before transferring to Life Science Alliance?
What is the submission date of a transferred manuscript?
Do I have to use the transfer link to submit to Life Science Alliance?
Scope
Which article types are published by Life Science Alliance?
Life Science Alliance publishes the following article types:
- Research Articles, Methods, Resources, and Follow-Ups: Original research manuscripts reporting valuable findings in the life sciences. These articles are peer reviewed. Follow-Up articles allow publication of work directly related to an authors’ previous study published in Life Science Alliance.
- Correspondence: Peer-reviewed communications concerning the validity/interpretation of data in previously published Life Science Alliance articles.
- Editorials: Policies, news, and commentaries, not peer-reviewed.
What kind of data is Life Science Alliance interested in?
Life Science Alliance aims at publishing rigorous work that provides a significant value to a specific field. We believe that new results, methods, resources or screens as well as important confirmatory, negative, or refuting data provide such value for the respective field. If you are unsure whether your data are likely to meet our expectations, please send an inquiry to contact@life-science-alliance.org. We will get back to you swiftly.
You can find our editorial policies regarding data reporting in our guide to authors here: www.life-science-alliance.org/editorial-policies
What kind of methods or resources is Life Science Alliance interested in?
We are interested in publishing any method that is not a derivative or incremental enhancement of a previously published method, and that is useful for the respective community. Other resources with value to the community, e.g. data from large-scale screens, systems-approach results or computational analyses are considered as well.
What sort of confirmatory work does Life Science Alliance consider?
We do encourage replicating work if the results are either highly important, controversial, or both, or if the work extends the scope of previous work (e.g. into other organisms, into other contexts such as disease, or simply into a broader context). We also consider studies that reconcile previously known individual processes in a single context.
What sort of negative data is Life Science Alliance interested in?
We want to publish negative data that are surprising in light of the previous literature or that are of significant value to others in the field, e.g. because they will shift the way others will do their research on the topic/how they follow an attractive hypothesis.
Are you considering data that refute previously published findings?
We generally do consider refuting data, also if these data refute work published elsewhere (see ‘Correspondence’ article type for studies refuting work published in Life Science Alliance). For our editorial decision on refutations, we consider whether the refuted data are important and/or widely noted, and whether the dataset makes a case that is at least as strong as the published data. We also take into consideration in what way the present dataset provides a broader context or how much explanation for observed discrepancies is provided.
Do you consider descriptive data?
Most definitely. As long as the dataset provides a solid and useful resource for others in the community, we would like to publish it.
How much insight is needed to warrant publication in Life Science Alliance?
That depends on the topic. We do not exclude ‘short message’ manuscripts. E.g., we would be interested if you show that a component plays a role in a relatively important process it has not been previously linked to.
For already very-well known processes, we also welcome in-depth molecular insight that adds to our understanding of the process.
Transfers
Why would my study be suitable for publication in Life Science Alliance after rejection at an Alliance Journal?
Life Science Alliance does not expect the same degree of insight, novelty or conceptual advance as particular Alliance Journals do. An overriding conceptual criticism at an Alliance Journal may thus be less of an issue for publication in Life Science Alliance. Please also note our FAQ section on the scope for work published in Life Science Alliance.
Why should I transfer my study?
- Transfer enables an efficient and fast peer-review process, avoiding futile cycles of submission and reviewing, reducing the burden on authors and reviewers.
- No re-uploading or reformatting of your manuscript and data files is required, you can transfer your work easily by following the link provided to you.
- For post-review transfers, Life Science Alliance considers referee reports obtained at Alliance Journals to outline minimal revision requirements with the aim to speed up publication.
- Only one set of referees evaluates each manuscript, no matter to which Alliance Journal the manuscript was initially submitted to. At the editors’ discretion, referee reports obtained at non-alliance journals may be taken into consideration as well.
What gets transferred when I decide to go on to Life Science Alliance?
When transferring your work from an Alliance Journal to Life Science Alliance using the link provided to you, the following information is automatically transferred:
- All author and manuscript information
- All manuscript files
- Referee comments to the authors obtained during peer-review at the alliance partner journal. Referee identities are transferred as well unless a referee opted-out of transferring his/her identity.
How do I transfer my work to Life Science Alliance?
Negative decision letters contain a link in the email that enables transfer. If the editor handling your manuscript at the alliance journal recommends transfer in the decision letter, Life Science Alliance is already aware of your work.
Will the editor at Alliance Journals handling my manuscript discuss it with editors of Life Science Alliance?
Ideally yes. Life Science Alliance aims at providing a firm commitment to you so that you know your options before deciding on what to do next. The editors at the Alliance Journals may thus consult with their colleagues at Life Science Alliance prior to inviting a transfer. Any such consultation is entirely confidential, and irrespective of a given transfer offer, you make the decision of where to transfer/resubmit.
Authors are asked at initial submission whether they agree to allow the editor to discuss their manuscript with an editor at Life Science Alliance in the event of a negative decision at the Alliance Journal. If you have agreed to this, the editor may consult with the Life Science Alliance editors to determine whether Life Science Alliance would like to consider publication of your manuscript and, for post-review cases, how you should revise your work for publication in Life Science Alliance
Does the editorial consultation process influence the decision of the editor at the Alliance Journal?
No, the editors at Alliance Journals consult with Life Science Alliance editors only once they have decided that they cannot consider a study for their own journal.
How do negative peer review comments affect consideration at Life Science Alliance?
A serious criticism at an Alliance Journal may be less of an issue for publication in Life Science Alliance as we do not expect the same degree of insight, novelty or conceptual advance. Furthermore, given a negative decision at an Alliance Journal, Life Science Alliance editors expect to see variable amounts of criticism, even for work that may be suitable for publication in Life Science Alliance. Often criticisms received at Alliance Journals can be addressed in a constructive way.
Should I revise the work before transferring to Life Science Alliance?
In case your work was peer-reviewed at another journal but has not been pre-discussed with Life Science Alliance editors, the decision process at Life Science Alliance can be accelerated if you provide a point-by-point response to the referee comments upfront, outlining the changes that appear feasible and explaining why other changes might not be included.
In case your work has been pre-discussed with Life Science Alliance editors, you should already have received an outline of how to address the criticisms raised. You can thus simply transfer your manuscript and you will receive an official decision letter that will again outline these revision points needed for acceptance at Life Science Alliance. Alternatively, you can submit an already revised manuscript to Life Science Alliance.
Can I modify my manuscript files after transfer to Life Science Alliance, or include comments to the Life Science Alliance editors in light of previous decision letters/reviews?
Yes, you can modify your manuscript files upon transfer by replying to the confirmation email you have received or by getting in touch at contact@life-science-alliance.org. We will be happy to exchange files on your behalf. We also welcome any additional comments during or after transfer via the same route.
Will Life Science Alliance involve new referees upon receiving my previously reviewed manuscript with referee reports?
We will involve new referees only in rare cases, e.g. when an arbitrator is needed or in cases where referees have not agreed to their identity being transferred to Life Science Alliance.
What is the submission date of a transferred manuscript?
Life Science Alliance is editorially independent, so the submission date will be the date at which Life Science Alliance received your work.
However, Life Science Alliance offers ‘scooping protection’ from the day of submission to Life Science Alliance or, for transfers, day of submission to Alliance Journals. The policy also extends to the date of preprint posting of a manuscript. This policy means that our decisions do not take into account any similar work published while your study is under consideration at Alliance Journals, already posted on a preprint server, transferred to or under consideration at Life Science Alliance. If you have been recently ‘scooped’, you may be able to receive ‘scooping protection’ retrospectively as well at the editor’s discretion.
Can I transfer my manuscript while appealing the decision at the Alliance Journal or if submitting to another journal?
No, a specific manuscript can only be under formal consideration at one journal at any given time. You should only transfer to Life Science Alliance once your manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere anymore.
Do I have to use the transfer link to submit to Life Science Alliance?
You do not need to use the transfer link to submit to Life Science Alliance, you can also submit your work directly to our office at
https://lsa.msubmit.net/cgi-bin/main.plex
Please note that if you choose this direct submission procedure, Life Science Alliance editors will not automatically have knowledge of any prior editorial/reviewing history at Alliance Journals.
